Civic group demands reform in wake of Benci trial

HAMILTON — With Mayor John Bencivengo’s corruption trial exposing a culture of bribery in the township, a civic group will push hard at next week’s Hamilton school board and township council meetings calling on those elected officials to take immediate action on reform.

Hamilton residents Steve Cook and Connie Silakoski of The Citizens Campaign will demand those two governing bodies to pass a comprehensive insurance reform law, according to the civic group.

The Citizens Campaign said its proposed Best Price Insurance Reform law, if passed, will ensure the school board and township obtain insurance coverage under a process of transparency and accountability.

The measure, if passed by the school board and council, would require the township and school board to use a “Request for Proposal” process for hiring insurance consultants or brokers. It would also require those chosen insurance consultants or brokers to work exclusively for the school district or township on a flat-fee basis that’s paid by the governing bodies rather than a commission basis paid by the insurance company. In addition, the measure would require the insurance consultant to provide at least a comparison of at least three insurance proposals.

At the time when Bencivengo surrendered to federal authorities on extortion charges in April, news emerged that the Hamilton Township School District was doing business with health insurance broker Marliese Ljuba of the Allen Associates brokerage firm without having a formal contract. The district’s improper practice of retaining Ljuba without a contract resulted in the district losing $25,000 in state aid.

Ljuba, the FBI’s cooperating witness in the Bencivengo trial, was making more than $500,000 in commissions annually when she was working as the school district’s broker. Ljuba in her testimony said she bribed former school board members and wheeled illegal money to school board election campaigns to help protect her high-paying job as the school district’s broker.

Ljuba said she gave Bencivengo $12,400 in bribes to influence the Hamilton school board, but Bencivengo’s defense argued the mayor received a loan from Ljuba and that the mayor didn’t have any influence on the Board of Education.

The school board earlier this year hired an insurance consultant on a flat-fee basis, saving the district $800,000, but the school board stopped short of adopting the full reforms advocated by The Citizens Campaign.

After the announcement of the mayor’s indictment, Silakoski presented the Best Price Insurance proposal to the Hamilton Township Council, but the council to date hasn’t considered the proposal in an up-or-down vote.

“I think it’s time the school board and the council understand that this ordinance has to be passed in full,” said former Hamilton councilman Vinnie Capodanno, a strong supporter of The Citizens Campaign. “No omission of any words from it. They have to do it. If they don’t do it, shame on them.”

With the Bencivengo trial exposing a culture of bribery, Capodanno said the reforms advocated by The Citizens Campaign are “to ensure that this never happens again. You never know in the future. History repeats itself. An ordinance like this will not allow history to repeat itself. There should be no argument. It’s a no-brainer.”

Capodanno on Friday went further, saying the school board and township council “should also have the strictest pay-to-play ordinance in all of New Jersey and a policy that all bids are bid upon. The nonsense has to stop.” Capodanno said he will demand resignations if the council and school board don’t adopt reform measures.